Leek

Scientific

Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum is in Amaryllidaceae (the amaryllis family, which now contains the Alliums that were once placed in Liliaceae). Closely related to [[garlic]] and [[onion]] — same genus, different cultivar groups.

The leek’s flavor compounds are similar to onion’s (sulfur-containing volatile compounds released when cells are damaged) but at lower concentrations — the species is milder than onion across all cooking applications.

Cultural and historical

Egyptian, Greek, and Roman traditions all describe leek cultivation. Roman emperor Nero reportedly ate leeks daily to improve his voice (the supposed mechanism — a folk remedy for vocal-cord strength — has not aged well). The Welsh national symbol traces to legendary 7th-century battles in which Welsh soldiers were said to have placed leeks in their helmets to distinguish themselves from Saxon enemies.

Cuisine applications:

• French — vichyssoise (cold leek-and-potato soup), poireaux vinaigrette, flamiche (leek tart)
• Scottish — cock-a-leekie (chicken and leek soup), one of the foundational Scottish soup traditions
• Welsh — cawl (Welsh stew), and the leek as national symbol
• Belgian — vlaamse stoofpot with leeks
• Chinese — Chinese leeks (A. tuberosum, garlic chives, a different species) and suan miao (green garlic)

The Roman influence on northern European cuisine carried leek across the empire; the vegetable was a staple of medieval European cooking before the late introduction of [[potato]] and [[onion]] cultivars dominated the cuisine.

Global production

Top producers: Indonesia, Turkey, France, Belgium, South Korea.

See also

Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.

• Shares approach with: [[garlic]] · [[potato]]
• Member of: [[plants]]
• Cousin of: [[onion]]

Sources

• Wikipedia — Leek

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A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].